Chapter 35 Savior
Sophie stormed out of Aria's studio. Outside, the bright sunshine was so glaring it hurt her eyes.
That Aria - she didn't even care about ten million! How much more did she want?
Lost in thought, Sophie suddenly slapped her forehead!
How could she do something so stupid again! What was the point of trying to bribe Aria? If she was shameless enough to take the money but not get the abortion and leave, what could Sophie do about it?
Could she drag Aria to the hospital and force her to get an abortion? Or file a lawsuit and ask a judge to rule on it?
She'd been too anxious and confused. Instead of wasting effort on Aria, she should focus more on Arthur.
Sophie called Arthur, who picked up after several rings.
"Hello?" Arthur's voice sounded hoarse, and there was a lot of noise in the background.
"Arthur, it's me."
Arthur paused. "...What is it?"
Sophie softened her voice. "Does your wound still hurt? It's almost noon - have you eaten?"
"Not yet, I'm in the middle of..."
Sophie cut in quickly, "Perfect! I'm out right now. Let me bring you something. What would you like?"
Arthur's voice grew impatient, "No need, I'm not eating. I'm reviewing a new BP. You go ahead and eat."
"I'm already at a restaurant." Sophie didn't give him a chance to refuse. "I'll bring it to you in a bit. It won't take much of your time!"
"...Fine."
Sophie hung up and let out a heavy breath, feeling even more anxious.
Before, no matter how busy Arthur was, he would never brush her off like this. And now? Even though she also worked at the company, he didn't even ask why she was outside!
Filled with resentment, Sophie went to buy several of Arthur's favorite dishes and brought them back to the company.
She got delayed a bit on the way. When she arrived at Arthur's office, his assistant actually stopped her!
"Director Smith, Mr. Grant is in a video conference. Please wait a moment before going in!"
"I'm just bringing food. I already arranged this with Arthur." She tried to go in.
The assistant stood firm. "I really can't let you. Mr. Grant specifically said this meeting is very important."
Being stopped like this made Sophie furious.
She'd already been blocked at Aria's place, which was infuriating enough. Now at Arthur's office, she was being blocked again?
"Look carefully - it's me! Sophie! Don't you recognize me? How dare you stop me? I'll have a word with Arthur, and you'll be out of here tomorrow!"
With that, she pushed past the assistant and barged in.
Arthur was indeed in a video conference. His shirt covered the bandages wrapped around his body. His face was pale, his lips completely bloodless. Seeing her burst in like this, he frowned deeply.
"Arthur, what video conference is so important that you won't even see me?" Sophie said coyly.
Behind her, the assistant looked troubled. "Mr. Grant..."
Arthur waved his hand at the assistant, signaling him to leave.
This time Sophie gave a satisfied little hum and began setting out the food containers on the desk one by one.
Borscht, salad, lamb chops, and toast - all Arthur's usual favorites.
"There was traffic the whole way, otherwise I would've been here earlier. You must be hungry now, right?"
Sophie pulled over a chair and sat down, using a fork to pick up a piece of lamb and bring it to Arthur's lips.
"You keep working, I'll feed you."
She smiled, her eyes and eyebrows curving.
Arthur said a few words to the people on the video call before closing it, then looked at Sophie. "I can do it myself."
He ignored the lamb chop at his lips and picked up his own fork, eating a few bites while his eyes drifted toward the computer screen.
Even though there was nothing on the screen.
"How does it taste?" Sophie asked, resting her chin on her hand.
"It's fine." Arthur poked at the salad with his fork.
Sophie watched him spacing out and bit her lip, then suddenly clutched her left chest and gasped softly.
Arthur immediately responded, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just feels tight here, painful. It's an old problem." Sophie said quietly, her face showing pain.
Arthur's gaze fell on where she was clutching, and his expression changed.
That was where the gunshot wound was.
He couldn't help but remember that rainy night when he'd been stabbed and chased into an alley, barely able to hold on.
His vision completely blurred, he could only vaguely see the person holding a gun, the barrel pointed at him.
He couldn't hold on anymore and closed his eyes. Then the gunshot rang out, and a thin, small figure blocked him, saying, "Arthur, run!"
Where could he run?
Fortunately, police sirens sounded outside the alley. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
Later he learned that Sophie had taken the bullet for him.
She loved him so much she was willing to trade her life for his!
This life-saving debt was something he could never forget. He had to repay her with equal love.
But what was he doing now?
Actually thinking about Aria! Actually spacing out in front of Sophie because of Aria?
Arthur quickly put down his fork and helped Sophie up, pulling her into his arms.
"Has it been acting up a lot lately? Should we go to the hospital?"
"No need, I'm probably just tired." Sophie smiled at him, pain still lingering on her face, but her head was already resting against his chest.
"As long as you're still by my side, holding me like this, I feel much better."
Arthur kissed her forehead.
Over the next few days, he deliberately spent more time with Sophie.
Eating together, listening to her talk about work - no different from before.
Except... except in a few late nights, Aria's image would still drift through his mind.
Damn it, why did he keep thinking about her?
That afternoon, after the assistant finished reporting on work, he mentioned casually, "Mr. Grant, Ms. Hall's studio's flower exhibition opened yesterday. I heard it was quite lively. Mr. White even signed a big order - tens of thousands!"
Arthur's hand stopped while flipping through documents. "Charles?"
"Yes, the Mr. White we've worked with before."
Arthur's brow furrowed.
He knew Charles was a famous painter, but he'd never heard that he liked flowers!
Spending tens of thousands at once - that money was nothing to Arthur, but for Aria's small studio, it was a big deal.
Was that Charles kid up to something?
He dismissed the assistant, but kept thinking about it. The more he thought, the more annoyed he felt.
Tens of thousands - what was that?
He called the assistant back.
"My estate needs some renovation."
The assistant was confused. "Didn't we just renovate it last year? I remember we even hired a master gardener then."
Arthur coughed. "Do it again. Pull out all the old flowers and plants, remove the lawn too. Raise the landscape design fee to 100,000."
With that explanation, the assistant understood.
"Give this job to Plant House studio?"
Plant House was the name of Aria's studio.
Arthur nodded.